Behind the Url
by Torgaydo
Summary: Genderfluid AU/High School AU- John has just moved to a small town in Texas where he is prepared to be judged for his differences. After all, he always had been. However, in comes tumblr famous, wanna-be cool kid Dave Strider who turns his world around.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! Alexis here uploading her own fanfic. So this is what I call my genderfluid au, mainly because John is a genderfluid teen trying to get used to life at a new school... Anyway, I know you can't really tell the whole genderfluid thing this chapter, but it shall become a thing next chapter alright? I dedicate this chapter to Sierra and Cam, who both encouraged me to write this. c:**

**~Torgaydo**

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Your name is Dave Strider and you have never been a fan of school, specifically the first day.

It had started in pre-school when you were only three. Bro had decided that getting you into schooling when you were small was sure to make you more intelligent in the long run. That and he was busy with his own stuff during the day and thought school would be more beneficial than a sitter. After all, baby sitters were inexperienced idiots who watched television and used up electricity. Bro didn't want some sitter sitting around the house while he did whatever he did with his smuppets. You didn't exactly think school would be a better idea than a sitter; even at the age of three, you were not looking forward to the Montessori school and their stupid uniforms that required you to display your eyes for the world to see. On top of that, they seemed to have a no strifing policy, except they called it horseplay, which was obviously stupid. You had been sent home early almost every day of that year because your teacher had called you a "fresh smart aleck with no regard for the learning environment our classroom is trying to have."

Your hatred of school only expanded when you were placed in a public elementary school and were reprimanded when you punched a kid named Karkat for making one of your best friends, Jade Harley, cry by saying that her complexion was irritating. She was grateful, but the principal of the school didn't seem to understand how everyone knew Karkat was a shouty asshole. Coincidentally, the guy was now Jade's friend, as well as your own. However, he was still an asshole and if you could go back to that day you would punch him even harder. No one messed with your friends, especially when they couldn't defend themselves. While your biggest pet peeve was when people picked on people smaller than them, you couldn't exactly help the fact Karkat had been smaller than you and Harley. He deserved what he got anyway. That had earned him a week suspension. Throughout elementary school, Dave became very close with the ladies in the administration office. He was there so often that he could recite names, ages, relationship status, and current phone arguments as well as any gossip on kids at school. He hadn't been eavesdropping or anything; it was just very easy to appear to be sleeping behind pointy anime shades.

It was in middle school that your hatred for school had reached a new level. This had been the year rumors about you being as straight as a line walked by a drunken man had begun. It wasn't that it was untrue. In fact, you would probably like anyone or any gender, but it was more of the fact that people called you Dave Strider the Dick Rider or Gayve Strider. The teasing was relentless and in Texas, people weren't so accepting of you. You noticed how parents would pull their kids away or how kids would point and whisper; it would be easier not to "catch the gay" if someone didn't make eye contact with you. This was when you pretended to date Rose, which didn't work out because you looked like siblings and it was clear she was a lesbian. It was clearer than you being into dicks as well as chicks. That year involved a lot of defending your fake girlfriend and finding solace in tumblr, where you gained followers quicker than gossip spread. It was eighth grade that Rose and Kanaya started dating after Kanaya and Vriska had dated sixth grade year. You had begun dating Terezi that year mainly because it helped your reputation, she was attractive, she wasn't an awful kisser, she was one of your best friends, and you both thought it was funny how much it pissed off Karkat.

High school had more or less gone the same so far. People teased you for being gay, Kanaya and Rose were still going strong for almost three years, Terezi and Karkat had some weird thing going on, and you were still best friends with Rose Lalonde and Jade Harley. Your tumblr had become somewhat of a place where you could be yourself without being judged and you updated comics, voice acting stuff, and more with followers complimenting you and having the hots for you. The best part being that no one called you fag or Gayve, and you embraced the hatred at school like it didn't bother you. Your followers only saw you as a cool kid that nearly everyone loved. That was how it needed to be. No one could see the dork who hated his stupid red eyes and didn't use his glasses for some metaphor like he claimed on tumblr, but rather, to hide his freakish eyes and his emotions. No one wanted to see the true you besides Jade and Rose and that didn't make you feel better considering they were both like sisters.

Today was the first day of junior year and you most certainly were not looking forward to the horrors of the oncoming school year. You had gotten up at it's-too-fucking-early-for-this-shit o'clock and got dressed in skinny jeans and some black shirt made by a tumblr fan showing a white record broken in half. You pulled on some white converse and a black beanie with the decision that you didn't honestly feel like brushing your hair. You then put on a pair of shades, checking tumblr on your phone once. You groaned internally when you saw that even more asks had flooded your inbox. How were you supposed to interact with people if so many of them had inboxed you? Time to answer a few at least, you think.

Anonymous asked: Selfie?

You opened the camera app and obliged, posting the picture and your response;  
I hope that works ;)

Anonymous asked: uh hi! i've never really worked up the courage to talk to you, but i'm moving to a new state this month (texas) and i kind of think kids are going to bully me since the school i'm going to doesn't really seem accepting?

You bit your lip, but then typed out your reply;  
Texas ain't exactly known for acceptance, especially some of the public schools. I know mine isn't. Why do you think kids are gonna bully you?... But anyways, just try and make some friends on the first day and stay strong! Feel free to message me anytime and maybe we could meet up sometime.

You hear obnoxious honking outside and of course it's Rose. You weren't later than usual, but you didn't have time for breakfast considering how early she was. You grumbled to yourself and pulled your backpack on one shoulder as you walked to the car and climbed into the back seat next to Jade and behind Kanaya. "Hello ladies," you greet, but add, "You're fucking early," under your breath. Of course Rose hears you and she gives you this stupid smirk that pisses you off to know end. Rose is the designated therapist of your friends because she seems to be perfect when you need comforting, but like therapists, she also tends to piss you off. A lot. She spouts philosophical bullshit and is always in your business. Sometimes you don't know how Kanaya can deal with her. "Oh come on Dave! Aren't you excited? It's the first day of school," Jade asks, the usual smile on her face. "I hate school. Especially the first day," you reply in a monotone. "You get to see all of your friends again," Kanaya supplies, trying to be helpful. Unfortunately for her, you didn't really care. "All the people I give a shit about I spend time with outside of school," you answer. Rose smirks, adding, "I hear a hidden compliment from Mr. David Elizabeth Strider." The car, mainly Kanaya, bursts into laughter and you groan, looking away from the girls.

"Elizabeth?" Kanaya questions, holding her hand daintily over her mouth to contain her laughter. "Okay, let's get something straight," you hiss. "My name is not David. My birth certificate specifically says Dave Elizabeth Strider and that's because Bro is a dick," you tell them. "Broseph isn't a dick. He has an excellent sense of humor. Him and I discuss you on the phone every Tuesday and Thursday about you and your feelings and such," Rose tells you. "That joke isn't funny anymore Lalonde," you reply. "Don't mess with him, it makes him upset and such," Jade tells her. "And an upset Dave is a hellish one to deal with," she adds. "Who said I was joking?" Rose laughs. You groan and the second the car slows into a park, you spring out of the car and rush into school, your head ducked down as you pull out the folded schedule from your pocket. In purple pen is a cursive note from none other than Rose Lalonde;

Dear David,  
I was in charge of setting up new class schedules. A thank you will be needed later.  
Rose Lalonde

1- Art: Ms. Paint  
2- English: Ms. Serket  
3- Gym: Mr. Slick  
4- Music: Mr. Ampora  
5- Math: Mr. Vagabond  
6- Lunch  
7- History: Mr. Vantas  
8- Science: Ms. Lalonde

Screw Rose and her absolutely irritating meddling. You walked to your locker, placing your textbooks from you backpack inside as well as binders from classrooms later in the day. You removed your sketchbook as well as your Art History textbook and trudged off to art class with Miss Paint. The small, stout woman was your favorite teacher in school, but that didn't change the fact you hated the first day of school more than Vriska loved Nicholas Cage. Miss Paint was a woman in her thirties who constantly had her platinum blonde hair in a makeshift twist so it wouldn't get paint in it; the lady constantly had paint somewhere on her body and students came to know her by the paint trails she would leave behind. She wore bright, colorful smocks daily, which contrasted with her husband's (your gym teacher) black and gray attire. In fact, they were opposite in every way possible. But now wasn't the time to get into that.

You walked into her class and scanned the different colored tables (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple) and their various name cards that had beautiful cursive writing indicating who was to sit there. You finally found your name at the purple table, where you had been at the red table the year before with Vantas, who drew depressing art, and Terezi, who drew dragon art and claimed that red helped her think or some weird shit like that. You quickly scanned the other notecards, wondering what other two people had been placed with you this year, but to your surprise you only saw one other notecard at your table. Johnathan Egbert. There must be some sort of mistake. There was no way that could be a Johnathan Egbert. Probably some joke pulled on you by some stupid classmate considering no new kids ever came to the school and you didn't recognize the name out of the four hundred classmates you had in school, with one hundred per grade. When the bell rang, you were even more sure that this was a hoax.

Miss Paint stood at the front of the room, a big smile on her face. "Welcome students! I'm sure you noticed that there are only two chairs per desk and that is because you have reached advanced placement art! Now that is most certainly a hard feat to reach, but here you are and I wanted to say I am so proud-" She was cut off by a door slamming open to reveal a boy. His raven hair was windswept and messy, being somewhat shaggy. His icy blue eyes were hidden behind a pair of thick frames and his smile was slightly bucktoothed as well as him having an overbite. The boy was slender in frame, with a more feminine body type. He was wearing black skinny jeans and a white long sleeved with the Ghostbusters emblem on it with a pair of black converse as well as a nervous smile. "Oh! You must be John Egbert. Class, this is John Egbert and he's a junior from Washington D.C. who just moved to Texas. He's sitting next to…. Dave! That's the purple table, hun," she chirped, gesturing to your table. The boy squirmed at her words, clearly uncomfortable with the entire class staring at him.

Your heart sped up and you looked down to fiddle with your pencils and sketchbook. He was cute. Really cute. The kind of cute you wanted to hug and coddle and cuddle with. This boy was so cute he should be fined. It was probably illegal to be that cute. He slid into the chair next to you and sent you a brief smile, waving. "As I was saying, I am so proud of you all! Now today we're going to be getting to know our partners because this week's assignment is to draw your partner. Now this isn't as simple as it seems. In fact, you need to know someone pretty well to draw him or her the way I want you to. So hang out after school! And I expect it to be in color," Miss Paint finished. She sat down at her desk and you turned to John, who had been giving watching you. "Well, uh. Welcome to Texas, I'm Dave Strider," you welcome him politely.

Your name is Dave Strider and you think that the first day of school, and the rest of it, might not be that bad.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you all so much for the follows, favorites, reviews, and even just reading my story! It motivates me to keep writing, so for the sake of this story, keep doing what you're doing. If you have any questions and/or comments on when the next chapter is going to posted or a plot idea and you don't want to contact me here, feel free to follow:**

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**Instagram(s): windyboyjohn (my John rp account) or dersedreamings (random posts and updates)**

**Kik: **

**~Torgaydo**

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Your name is John Egbert and you are really not looking forward to your first day at school in Texas.

You had toured the school a week earlier with your father, who had urged you to keep you sexual preference and gender identity on the low side because this school seemed extremely judgmental and "we don't want this to be like D.C., right?" Sure, you didn't want kids writing hurtful notes and words all over your desk and belongings. Nor did you want to be shoved and beaten up in the hallways with no honest friends to protect you. So you agreed with your father. Telling people here would not be intelligent. But you knew you would feel uncomfortable every time someone referred to you as male or by his/him pronouns. It had started when you entered the office to take your tour. A girl, judging by the way she handled herself and the fact her name tag said 'Miss Rose Lalonde', your age with beautiful blonde hair had offered to give you the tour of the school. A black hair band had pulled her shoulder length blonde hair back and she was wearing a black skirt and some white shirt advertising a wizard book by someone in her family. Her eyes were the strangest color; they were a vibrant purple, but you said nothing in reply. They could have been contacts for all you knew.

"We didn't get John's schedule yet. We know the classes we requested, but not what teacher or what order," Mr. Egbert to the blonde, who bobbed her head in acknowledgment. "I can make his schedule right now. Hmm… Your electives are AP Art, Gym, and Music?" Rose questioned in surprise. You cringe at her pronoun use, biting your lip with a glance to your Dad before sighing. She didn't know any better. "Uh yeah… I love all of those… Is there a problem? Did my art information not pass over and I can't be in AP?" you ask, slightly concerned that your previous high school hadn't sent over your transcripts properly. "No, it's just that we happen to have a really small school and only one other person has all three of those electives. I was just thinking about how absolutely peculiar that way," Rose replies, a small smirk on her face as she prints out your schedule. "You're welcome Dave," she mumbles, but it was so soft, you barely hear her.

"But let me give you guys the tour." Rose stands, thrusting a schedule in your hands. "Okay, first you have advanced placement art with Ms. Paint," she tells you, grabbing your hand and leading you towards the art room, turning down a hallway and into a pretty room with different colored tables. "Now this will be your first period. And according to Ms. Paint's excellent name cards, you sit at the purple table. Any questions?" Rose asks, and when he don't reply, she pulls you toward your next class: English with Ms. Serket. She leads you toward another hall, gesturing to your locker on the way. Rose gestures to the door and then proceeds walking to the school gym, pointing it out and continuing to the music room. She points to the history class by the music room. "That's your seventh hour," she says, taking on a bored tone. "And on the other side is your fifth hour." Rose trots ahead of you both, her blonde hair bouncing up and down. She leads you down another hall to a science class. "Wait, science with Miss Lalonde? Your mom?" you question. "No, my sister. She loves Chemistry. Her class will be... interesting, I guarantee," she replies. And that was it.

Today was the first day of junior year at your new high school and you most certainly were not excited. You had gotten up bright and early- unfortunately- to get some last minute things ready for school. You put on a pair of black skinny jeans, although your body type was so slender even they looked baggy on you, as well as a white Ghostbusters long sleeved shirt with the crossed out ghost emblem, and your black converse. You pushed your glasses up your nose and looked back towards your made bed. 'Perfect,' you thought to yourself before heading to your bathroom for the second time that morning; the first was for your shower and other mundane activities. You look at your messy hair in the mirror once before giving up all hope for it and heading to the kitchen, where you pull out your phone and go to your favorite tumblr account. The owner of it being this kid named Dave from Texas who was just- well… the best. And today you had decided to work up the courage to talk to him. 'Now, come on, John. It can't be that hard. He might not even see it,' you pep talked yourself. That's right. Your tumblr favorite may not even see what you had written. He had enough messages to sort through anyway. So you type;

uh hi! i've never really worked up the courage to talk to you, but i'm moving to a new state this month (texas) and i kind of think kids are going to bully me since the school i'm going to doesn't really seem accepting?

You put it on anonymous and hope for the absolute best. But you figure now you can eat breakfast and then catch about ten minutes of sleep in your car. You decide to be lazy and pop a Kellogg's waffle in the toaster, turning your back to pour yourself some apple juice, which you put back where you found it. The toaster dinging makes you jump slightly, mainly because you were so tired you forgot you put something in the toaster in the first place. You pour some maple syrup on your waffle, once it's out of the toaster of course. And you only say that because when your older sister Jane was five, she literally poured a whole bottle of maple syrup down your toaster. It nearly set the whole kitchen on fire, which your father ended up putting out and then retelling this story to her future dates and anyone who would listen; you had heard the story so many times you could tell the small details yourself and you hadn't even been alive when it had happened. It wasn't exactly Jane's brightest moment.

You had downed your breakfast and put everything in the washing machine when you realized you were still early for school. So you grabbed your backpack, headed into your car, and decided ten minutes of sleep wouldn't do you any harm and you could still be at school on time. This plan would have worked superbly if you hadn't woken up twenty minutes later. Even if you rushed, the likelihood of you being in class on time was pretty miniscule. In fact, you couldn't even really place where the art room was in your mind. You turned on the radio, trying to take calming breaths as you backed out of the driveway and into the street. You nearly flew down the streets of Texas toward your school, but you seemed to be catching every stupid red light on the way. At this point, you were at the red light before the turn into school, which seemed to be taking way too long for your liking. So you pulled your phone out, opening tumblr and going to Dave's blog to see if maybe, just maybe, he had seen your ask. To your immense surprise, there was your ask:

Anonymous asked: uh hi! i've never really worked up the courage to talk to you, but i'm moving to a new state this month (texas) and i kind of think kids are going to bully me since the school i'm going to doesn't really seem accepting?

Texas ain't exactly known for acceptance, especially some of the public schools. I know mine isn't. Why do you think kids are gonna bully you?... But anyways, just try and make some friends on the first day and stay strong! Feel free to message me anytime and maybe we could meet up sometime.

Your eyes widened and you stared at the reply with your mouth agape. Dave had replied to you. Dave had replied to you! He was genuinely curious about your concerns, which you hadn't mentioned for a reason, and even said you could message him anytime. He suggested you two could hang out! Loud honks could be heard from behind you and you blushed, noticing the light had turned green and you hadn't noticed due to your extreme fanboying. You laughed to yourself, a giggle of the sorts, and turned into the student parking lot, parking in the first available spot and toting your backpack and phone along with you. As you exited the car, you could hear the ring of the second bell. "Shit," you cursed, a frown on your face as you ran toward the school building. Your legs kicked up as you ran and the thought of you in a schoolgirl uniform made you immediately think '_late for anime school._' You just needed a piece of toast in your mouth.

You finally burst into the classroom after searching hallways that look semi-familiar, your hair messy as usual and out of breath from your recent hallway running expedition. You seem to have entered the classroom during some type of welcoming speech and you look at your teacher curiously. Miss Paint seemed to be in her late twenties or early thirties and her light blonde hair was twisted in some fashion so it would keep out of her face. Her blue eyes were warm and welcoming, with her eyeliner being better on her right side; you deduced she was probably right handed from this. A pencil was behind her ear and her mascara was smudged only slightly below her eyes and it seemed like she had been trying to hide tears that she had shed before class. You weren't quite sure. Her smock was bright colors and almost hurt your eyes, but you supposed it was bright and welcoming for your first day of eleventh grade. "Oh! You must be John Egbert. Class, this is John Egbert and he's a junior from Washington D.C. who just moved to Texas," Miss Paint introduced and you cringed at her words, correcting her to 'they' in your mind. "He's sitting next to…. Dave! That's the purple table, hun," she added. Your heart pounded in your chest and you tried to remember where the purple table was without looking up. You had no desire to meet the eyes of anyone staring at you in class.

You finally sat down, avoiding the prying glance of your desk neighbor. Maybe just one peek would be okay. You glance up, your heart skipping a beat at the sight in front of you. You would know his face anywhere. In fact, you had seen a selfie of this exact boy in this exact outfit just a little bit ago. He was wearing white converse, skinny jeans that didn't leave much to your imagination, a black tank top with a white broken record on it that showed off his arms, a pair of shades, and a black beanie. His blonde hair fell perfectly on his face, but you couldn't exactly see much of his face due to his hair and shades. His nose was long and slender with freckles dusting his cheeks and nose. His lips were pink and he happened to be biting his lip, which nearly made you swoon. He was certainly attractive; you, of course, already knew this. "As I was saying, I am so proud of you all! Now today we're going to be getting to know our partners because this week's assignment is to draw your partner. Now this isn't as simple as it seems. In fact, you need to know someone pretty well to draw him or her the way I want you to. So hang out after school! And I expect it to be in color," Miss Paint says, which you catch after your evaluation of the boy next to you.

"Well, uh. Welcome to Texas, I'm Dave Strider," he says politely, a small sliver of a Texan accent shining through in the way he speaks. You nod, a small smile on your face as you reply, "Thanks. I'm John Egbert if you didn't get that from the embarrassing introduction." He laughs, shaking his head. "It must suck being the new kid. I've been in Texas all my life and I hate this school; I can only imagine what it's like for you. Uh anyway… I was thinking we can talk today in school and maybe pesterchum, if you have it. My bro is kind of working today, so I can't have anyone over. But we can hang out the rest of the week. I figure we can start drawing Thursday in class and finish it after school and start painting with some supplies at my house. Miss Paint's projects are always due exactly a week after they're assigned so if we need to hang out this weekend, we can," Dave rambles. "And I certainly wouldn't mind that," he adds, which causes the both of you to blush.

"That sounds great," you reply. "And yeah, I have a pesterchum. It's ectoBiologist," you tell him, not mentioning that it was your tumblr url as well. "Oh, cool. Mine is turntechGodhead," he replies, and you nod in realization. It was his tumblr of course. How had no one spammed him out of the pesterchum already? Well… Pesterchum was a pretty outdated app. It had been something your sister had kept in touch with her friends on and thus, that was how you spoke to her. You also spoke to an old friend of hers; this was due to the fact she used to babysit you and you liked her quite a bit. If you were right, she had a sister your age. But that was a long, long time ago. No time to dwell on that. Especially when Dave Strider was sitting in front of you.

"Tell me about yourself," he suggests and you shrug. "Not much to tell I suppose. I grew up with my dad and sister because my mom died when I was really young. My sister is twenty-three which a lot of people find the age difference weird. I'm only sixteen. I moved here from Washington D.C. because my dad had a new job opportunity. To be honest, I'm not exactly sure what he does for a living. Before living there, we lived in a small suburban neighborhood in Washington. I like anime and all kinds of movies, but I suppose I like watching movies with Nic Cage because he's pretty cool. I have a salamander named Casey… My family has an all out prank war that seems to have no boundaries. I'm allergic to peanuts, am an awful gamer, and like blogging," you say, pausing every once and again to make sure that he's paying attention. "And you?" you add.

"Well… my name is Dave, but you know that. I've lived in the same shitty Texas apartment all my life with my brother who I recently learned his name is Dirk and not Broderick… It's a long story. My bro is really… interesting which apparently screwed me up according to my friend Rose who tends to analyze everyone. I have a few friends in school and I suppose I'll introduce them to you so you can meet some new people. I like irony when people use it right, blogging, playing video games, brawling with swords, making music, rapping, photography, and I happen to collect jars of dead things. Again… long story. I don't like puppets; they give me the creeps. I also don't like Houston. But on the other hand, I suppose I should tell you something that you will probably find out anyway and will probably make you want to get the hell away from me," Dave tells you. "I'm gay."

Your name is John Egbert and you think Dave Strider is the best thing to happen to you in a long time.


End file.
